


Luc and the Russian Press

by Superstition_hockey



Series: Depth on the Bench [21]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Notfic, Queer Erasure, Russian media, Tumblr Ask Box Fic, bi erasure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-01
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-11-07 15:10:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17962919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Superstition_hockey/pseuds/Superstition_hockey
Summary: Tumblr ask: Was there any negative fallout from back home for Buddy when Luc and Jacks came out?





	Luc and the Russian Press

**Author's Note:**

> This is a notfic that kinda got too long to put on Tumblr so I figured I'd put it here. Also, since I'm not in Russia, obviously, I lack understanding of the nuances of Russian media and wouldn't pretend to know how Russian press would really react in either the real world or in the world where Luc's existence tends to alter the status quo, so, apologies, in general, if this is ridiculously off base.

Tumblr ask: Was there any negative fallout from back home for Buddy when Luc and Jacks came out?

 

So, like… if I wrote substantially more realistic fics? Probably? Like if you mean home like Buddy’s actual family home, his parents already know that Yasha is living there, they already know about Luc and Jacks, so that wasn’t as big of a deal, but if you mean just back home with Russian hockey in general I would think he’d have to have a few awkward pressers etc, and it would really suck to have to either decide whether he was going to have to double down on being in the closet or decide to throw his towel in with Luc’s very public coming out. 

But, a friend and I actually talked about this a while ago and were like, wouldn’t it be funny if Luc spent all summer worrying, once the dust had cleared a little, about Buddy and how he might have made things awkward for him, and maybe they talk during the summer because, I think in Rose Tattoo Luc mentions wanting to come to Buddy’s Cup Party in Moscow, or maybe Luc doesn’t get a chance to go to that, and they talk when he gets back to QC at the end of the summer, but what if Luc and Buddy are talking and Luc is like….bro I’m so sorry I hope your summer wasn’t too shitty. Especially because like, maybe it wouldn’t matter if he was just some guy, but Russian sports media, before, really liked Luc. Not as much as they liked their own players, but hey… Luc was learning Russian! Luc helped their baby rookie! He was good friends with Temi. Luc was dating a woman from Ukraine and had a Kharlamov jersey on his wall and had the sort of team play style that would have made Anatoly Tarasov proud. Luc could tell that Russian media had kind of a fondness for him and he was worried they’d be pissed, and take it out on Buddy. 

So Luc’s all like gentle and tentative and prepared to apologize profusely and instead Buddy and Yasha just look at each other and they’re like “you didn’t read the article?” and Sveta’s like “you’re going to have to show it to him,” and Buddy’s like “he’s not going to like it” and eventually someone sends him a link to an article and Luc, like, presses the google translate button on the top of the page and reads it. Then he reverses it back to Russian and translates it to English instead. He reads it. He reverses it back to Russian and goes and grabs the Russian dictionary on the shelf and wanders off to the kitchen table and 3 hours and at least two dozen texts to Temi he’s stands up and he’s PISSED.

First of all? How?Dare?They? Luc is not confused!!!!! Luc and Jacks are not just “pals”!!!! Luc is certainly not “suffering from the affects of the north american male’s stilted, pallid forms of male friendship.” Luc’s feelings of brotherly love for his dear friend are not just confused by western homosexual propaganda and the treacherous belief that men cannot have intimate caring relationships without touching each other’s dicks like perverts, and he and Jacks are not just “falling into an expected confusion that’s the byproduct of dating the same woman.”

Luc is ready to fly to Moscow and shove the article down the damn journalist’s throat. Luc is already calling Cinnamon and about to demand a press conference with Sport Express so that he can set the record decidedly not-straight.

Buddy tells him he’s an idiot and to shut up. Yasha also tells him he’s an idiot, but much more gently. Sveta steals his phone and wanders off with it to talk to Cinnamon. Jacks reads Luc’s translation and says, “Oh, wow, I didn't know I was dating Svetlana Volkov too. Svets! Is it my turn to take you out to dinner!”

Buddy says, “So stupid, Chants. No one thinks you confused for real about tongue fucking on international TV. Don’t be dumb.”

“They just said….”

“Press, Chants. Shut up. You don’t understand.”

Luc has to take like three steady breaths and then he’s like “so explain it.”

Buddy’s says, “they like you. Don’t want to stop liking you, so they have to write article so that it’s okay to still talk about how much they like you without getting fines. Everyone know the truth, Chants, because you don’t know how to keep private business off of TV, but this way they don’t have to talk about it. Ta gueule.” 

 

Luc grumbles about it the whole summer, but he doesn’t fly all the way to Russia just to wrap himself in the Bi Flag and wander around the Kremlin to prove a point. He doesn’t even mail the journalist an envelope with nothing but a Quebec postmark and a little bi-bee sticker. He minds his own business and enjoys his summer. 

And then Luc gets the letter. It’s from a 12 year old boy in St. Petersburg, it’s written in cursive Cyrillic that Luc has to get Yasha and Buddy to help him with because it looks completely indecipherable to him, and it says that the boy’s name is Vladimir but Luc can call him Dima. He plays hockey and has a best friend named Silvestr. He used to want to play for SKA St. Petersburg when he grew up but now he dreams about playing in the NHL so that he and his best friend can _play hockey together forever._

“Oh.” Luc says when Buddy has helped him translate it.

“Yes.” Buddy says. “Now you understand.” 

“Will you help me write him back?” Luc asks.


End file.
